Hurricane Rita has Texas legal system on the move News
Hurricane Rita has Texas legal system on the move

[JURIST] Judges, lawyers, and even prisoners are on the move across Texas as residents prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Rita [Wikipedia backgrounder]. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website], already bounced from its usual home in New Orleans [JURIST report], has announced closures [press release] for its temporary location in Houston. The US Marshals Service [official website] has moved federal prisoners out of the projected path of the storm in Corpus Christi, and temporarily moved its Houston office. State, county and municipal [City of Houston press release] courts have also suspended operations, and lawyers are advising clients that they will be unavailable. Some are even moving files to safe locations. The Texas Lawyer has more.